Marseilles cruise port, France
The oldest city in France, founded by Greek sailors from Phocaea around 600 BC as Massalia, and it has faced the sea rather than Paris ever since. Notre-Dame de la Garde on the hill is visible from most of the city and most of the bay. The cruise berths are four miles from the old harbour, so this is a shuttle port.
Worth knowing. Bouillabaisse has a charter. Restaurants sign up to rules about which fish must be in it and how it is served, because the city got tired of tourists being sold fish soup.
What to do in Marseilles for free
There is a free port bus from the quays out to the Joliette, on the edge of the centre, and the Vieux Port is twenty-five minutes on foot from that stop. The fish market on the quay sells that morning's catch off trestle tables, and standing and watching it costs nothing at all.
What costs money
The ship's own excursions usually cost more than booking the same trip yourself. Two things come with the price. The ship waits for its own excursions and does not wait for you. And if the port is missed, P&O refunds its own without you asking. A trip you booked yourself is a claim on your travel insurance, so check what your policy covers. The ship sells its own trips to all of these, and the desk is open on board if you would rather do it that way.
Notre-Dame de la Garde. The church on the hill, with the gold Virgin standing on top of the tower. It is a hundred and fifty metres straight up from the old port, and a little road train goes if the climb is not for you.
The Calanques. Limestone inlets east of the city with water the colour of a swimming pool. Boats go from the old port and from Cassis, and there is nowhere to land, so it is a trip you look at rather than one you walk in.
Which ship calls at Marseilles, and when
Every call here between 15 August and 28 November 2026, with the hours ashore P&O published. These times are a guide, not a promise: the captain gives the real ones the day before.
| Ship | Sails | Day | Ashore |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arvia | 16 August 2026, 14 nights | Day 9 | 08:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 13 September 2026, 14 nights | Day 9 | 08:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 27 September 2026, 13 nights | Day 8 | 08:00 to 18:00 |
How long you get ashore in Marseilles
The published times give you about 10 hours alongside, depending on the sailing. Take off the time it takes a few thousand people to get off, and the time you need to be back on board before the ship leaves, and that is your day. P&O give the real hours the day before, and the all-aboard time is earlier than the departure time.
The other stops on these cruises
Every one of these is on at least one of the sailings that calls at Marseilles.
- AlicanteSanta Barbara castle stands on the bare rock of Benacantil straight above the town, held in turn by Carthaginians, Romans and Moors because whoever had the rock had the harbour.
- BarcelonaThe Gothic Quarter is built on the Roman town of Barcino, and the Sagrada Familia has been under construction since 1882: Gaudi knew he would not see it finished and said his client was in no hurry.
- Cadiz (tours to Seville)Probably the oldest continuously lived-in city in western Europe: the Phoenicians founded Gadir here around 1100 BC.
- IbizaFounded by Carthage in 654 BC, and a World Heritage site for the Renaissance walls of Dalt Vila and the Phoenician village at Sa Caleta rather than for anything that happened after 1987.
- La CorunaThe Spanish Armada sailed from this harbour in 1588, and it is still guarded by the Tower of Hercules, a Roman lighthouse from about the year 100 which has never stopped working: the oldest one on earth still doing its job.
- MalagaPicasso was born here in 1881, in a flat on the Plaza de la Merced, and there is a museum of his work a few streets away.
Money and language in France
Euro (EUR, €). Cards are fine almost everywhere. A boulangerie queue moves faster if you have coins. Onboard is always charged in sterling, so this only matters ashore.
A greeting in French before you switch to English is worth more here than anywhere else on these itineraries.
| English | French | Say it |
|---|---|---|
| Hello | Bonjour | bon-ZHOOR |
| Goodbye | Au revoir | oh ruh-VWAR |
| How much? | Combien ça coûte? | kom-BYAN sa KOOT |
| Thank you | Merci | mair-SEE |
| Please | S'il vous plaît | seel voo PLEH |
Free, and it works with no internet. Give it the dates you sail and it works out your own stops and saves the street map for each one. It shows you round the ship too.
All the ports written up so far, the things to do before you sail, or the ship pages for Iona and Arvia.